The Hitman: Dirty Rotters (30 page)

I felt time slipping away. I stole a
second to stare skyward, hoping the stars would offer guidance,
hoping to see the moon one last time, hoping maybe even that a
voice would offer some sort of comfort. All I saw were clouds, grey
and swift and cold.

I had to find the money. I didn’t have
a weapon to stand against The Bear and his people, and the best I
could hope for was to offer them the money for the women. Maybe I
could throw on Vladimir’s nasty fur coat and keep my distance and
they would make a clean exchange. It was a plan full of
holes.

Time to go.

I sped across the gravel on the
train’s right side looking for boxcar doors ajar or unlocked. It
was a long line. I was nearly at the end when I found three freight
cars with the sliding doors unlocked.

The first was empty. I had pushed the
door all the way open and saw only darkness. It had a smell to it.
Maybe hours before it was hauling cows.

I grabbed a hold of the door to the
second car and pulled back. It moved with ease, though it made a
terrible grinding sound like the wheels needed oil. I stared into a
blackness once again, same as the first car. I jumped and pushed
myself up onto the floor. I stood and looked left then right.
Further right, the darker it was. There was no stink, rather it had
a fresh air smell as if the door had been opened all day.
Definitely not a trace of manure. Empty nonetheless.

Time was running out. I ran to the
third car, pulling the door open immediately. My stomach began to
churn with nervous energy. The door was open enough to see into the
blackness beyond. I saw nothing.

I climbed into the opening
feeling my heart pound against my chest like it was trying to break
free. I couldn’t slow my breathing down. I was filling with panic.
I saw nothing. I stepped further into the black and let it envelope
me. My eyes adjusted and I saw a pile of chains in the center along
with some rope, wound up neatly. Then I saw something darker. A
rectangular shape, three foot high and four foot long. Bingo. I
moved towards it right away. I was shaking and I couldn’t calm
down. I was breathing faster and harder as I stepped closer to it.
Then the
it
became
the
them
. Five of
them. Black duffle bags stacked two high with one in front. I could
tell they were full. Packed.

One million dollars cash.

I reached down to the first bag and
grabbed the zipper. I had planned on unzipping it just enough to
look inside, to smell the cash, to run my fingers over the bills,
and to daydream just for a moment. But once I saw the money I
unzipped it all the way and stared in awe. I felt like a kid on
Christmas right then. My smile was ear to ear and I laughed.
Something had gone right. I felt invincible. I felt like everything
was going to work out right.

Something moved in the
dark.

I heard the tiger growl then, a few
feet behind the duffle bags, quickly followed by the sound of a
chain sliding quickly across the metal floor. I stood up,
backpedaling right away, just out of reach as its giant muzzle
speared through the dark towards my head. The chain held taut,
keeping the big cat from ripping me to shreds.

I took a second to let it sink in.
Vladimir had a big white Siberian tiger guarding the
money.

I took a few deep breaths. The tiger
roamed back into the blackness, the chain dragging with it. All
went silent after a moment.

Then the floor creaked behind
me.

Vladimir!

I turned in time to see the crowbar
shatter my hopes in a blinding burst of stars.

The faint scent of my mother’s shampoo
was drifting through my nostrils when I awoke. Her face flashed
before me in a split second, seemingly like forever ago. Surely
another lifetime. Her loving eyes and happy smile were fading like
a shadow overcome by nightfall.

“
Stupid American,”
Vladimir’s laugh cut the silence, “never let a big Russian man out
of sight. Now I cut you in pieces for my tiger to eat.”

Vladimir spoke, but I only focused on
the vision of my mother. For that split second, I had watched my
mother’s eyes fill with sorrow the way a good parent would look
upon their hurt child. Then she was gone.

I hurt. Everything hurt. My mind. My
body. I wanted that moment back. I wanted nothing more than to be a
kid again.

Vladimir stepped in front of me with
the machete.

At that moment I hated life and
everything about it.

Chapter 25

Reality wasn’t my friend.

It came back to me then, stomping out
the fires of my childhood memories with its cold, icy feet,
stripping my protective wings off and leaving me as helpless and
vulnerable as the child I wished I still was.

Vladimir moved behind me. Chains
scraped the metal floor in the darkness before me. I couldn’t see
the tiger. But it was close. I could follow the sound of its
breathing as it paced back and forth.

“
Mother Russia is dark
place. Cold and hard. My people are strong. Not like soft
Americans.” Vladimir was talking behind me. I heard the scraping of
steel against a stone. A blade was being sharpened. “It is bad
night vor you, my comrade. You see no more dawn.”

I looked around, gathered my wits and
tried to figure a way out. I saw the crowbar a few feet away lying
against the wall. The duffel bags were stacked in front of me. The
door was wide open to my right. I could taste blood in my mouth and
the vision in my left eye was blurry. My head was throbbing. My
hands were tied behind me and I sat on the cold floor.

It was in those first few minutes that
I believed it was over. I had failed. I had been beaten more times
in the head with blunt objects than I could recall. My entire body
ached. I couldn’t see well. I didn’t feel well. I was tired in a
way that sleep wouldn’t be enough to satisfy. I needed something
greater. I needed to die.

Vladimir punched me in the face. Blood
flew from my mouth. My lips were cut, and they stung as sweat and
blood ran across them. My eyes watered terribly.

Vladimir stood in front of me holding
a long machete. He made motions with it as if he were cutting my
eyes out. He laughed, then discarded it. It clanked against the
floor. Even in the dark I could see his grin, devilish and cold. “I
do not have the time to cut her meat vor her. Sometimes kitty like
to do it herself.”

More laughing.

More wishing I was dead.

The chains holding the tiger at bay
were moving around quickly now. I didn’t look up. I didn’t want to
see it coming. Instead, I closed my eyes and prayed.

Have mercy. Make it quick.
I tried.

I heard the chains go taut, then they
fell to the floor and began sliding back and forth in front of me.
Vladimir spoke then, somewhere behind me.

“
Chains are strong.”
Vladimir walked past me into the darkness. When he spoke again, the
chains stopped moving, and I couldn’t see him. “It is time to
veed.”

Chains hit the floor. The tiger
growled. Vladimir’s breathing quickened, he was struggling. He
spoke to the tiger then, calming the wild animal. He was amused.
“She is so strong! She is like the shark in the votter.”

Vladimir stepped forward. He was
walking the tiger like a dog on a leash. The chain was fastened to
a collar around the tiger’s huge neck and wrapped around Vladimir’s
left hand and up his forearm. The animal leapt at me, but he
restrained her, leaving her extended with her front paws swiping
the air in front of me, pulling her back until all fours were on
the floor.

“
I am sorry, American. This
night she does not vant to play. This night she vants to eat only.”
He stepped closer. The tiger’s face was inches from my own.
Vladimir held her back again, toying with me, teasing
her.

My hands were tied with rope behind
me. I struggled to rise, to force my body to work in ways that it
didn’t want to anymore. I frantically tried to free my hands, but
it was useless. And the tiger lunged at me continuously. It was
hungry and impatient.

I was going to die.

Vladimir began unraveling the chain
from his left hand. The tiger reached closer. Claws swiped at my
face within inches. I felt a hot explosion of air as it growled
viciously. Vladimir walked it around me and stopped behind me where
I couldn’t see them.

“
She vill bite your neck
now, American. Goodbye.”

I closed my eyes.

I sighed deeply.

The gunshot was loud and unexpected.
It sounded like a cannon blast in the still night. I jumped and
screamed.

I saw Vladimir stumble down almost
immediately. Frank stood in the doorway, smoking gun in
hand.

“
Get out of
there!”

Vladimir hit the floor yelling in
pain, grabbing his right thigh where his pant leg was soaked red
with blood. The tiger tore loose and went straight for me. It was a
giant blur of movements in the darkness. I dove out of the way as
the tiger came barreling at me, swiping razor sharp claws at my
face. I picked up the machete and tried to cut my hands free. But
there was no time. I turned, but the chain was still wrapped around
Vladimir’s arm and hand, keeping the tiger tugging for
freedom.

I rolled onto my feet near the door
and left nothing behind. I moved as fast as I could while Frank
tugged the giant door closed. I could hear the tiger give pursuit
behind me, dragging Vladimir with it. I could almost feel its warm
breath on my neck as I dove out the open door just as Frank shut it
closed. I hit the cold, solid ground and tumbled. Vladimir’s
screams filled the boxcar before I gained my feet. I could only
imagine what was taking place inside.

A minute later, the only sounds were
mine and Frank’s heavy breathing.

“
Frank! I didn’t think you
were alive!” I moved closer to him as he left the door and used the
machete to untie my hands. “I thought we were both
dead!”

“
Thank me later,” he
groaned. He was soaked in sweat, and blood that wasn’t his. He
looked dead tired. He was exhausted and breathing hard. He had run
all the way. He had never given up.

“
Believe me, I will.” I fed
off his determination. “I know where they are. Let’s
go.”

We ran to the front of the train and
climbed aboard. The conductor didn’t need much coaxing. One look
from me, maybe one to the machete, maybe a glance at Frank’s badge,
and he was up at the controls, awaiting my word.

“
Let’s go.”

The conductor began to start the
train. Frank said, “Where is she?”

“
The recycling
center.”

I gave the old man a look of
confirmation and he nodded. I knew it. I should have known it all
along though. As I filled in Frank with what I knew of the money
and the women, the train came to life and we began moving forward,
closer to the Red Square.

It was ten past midnight.

The conductor slowed the train down
and Frank and I saw lights looming in the distance. Even from a
hundred yards away I knew the size of the warehouses to be the
recycling center where I first met Palo.

The conductor pointed ahead. A few
moments later he braked the train and we began slowing, coming to a
stop at the backside of two large recycling buildings. In between
them was the office. There was a long ramp in place from the
asphalt to the train. I saw a black Rolls-Royce parked facing us in
between the two warehouses. Its bright lights flared to life,
shedding light across the ramp and the train. There were a few men
dressed in black standing about that began to go into formation
beside the Rolls.

With the train at a dead stop, all
eyes were on us.

Then the driver of the Rolls stepped
out. He walked back and opened the backdoor on the opposite side.
Andrik stepped out. Slow and fat. A small red box in his hands.
Crackers, no doubt.

Andrik turned towards his men, made a
hand motion briefly, then dumped a handful of crackers from the box
into his wide mouth. His men split up. Two walked towards us, the
other two jogged back to the office building forty yards
back.

“
What’s the plan?” Frank
asked.

I shrugged. “There is no
plan.”

Frank growled, “I’m a cop. We make
plans.”

“
I’m not a cop. I wing
it.”

Frank got right in my face. “I don’t
know how you made it this far, but I’m not going to let you ruin
this.”

“
Fine, we’ll wait ‘till
they’re all out, then run out shooting.”

“
I have two bullets.
Another idea like that, and I’ll be down to one.”

“
Then there is no plan.
We’re going to have to wing it. Have faith, Frank. We’ve made it
this far. We can make it the rest.”

Frank made a fist. “You either got
beat in the head too many times, or not enough.”

I gave Frank a hard look. “Listen, the
two coming at us want the money. They’ll assure us that the women
are fine and that they’ll be on their way in a moment. We lead them
back to the money-”